Newt Gingrich, the sometime historian and would-be Republican presidential nominee, would do well to heed Coke's admonition. His "21st-Century Contract with America" launches a frontal assault on the nation's courts, particularly on "judicial supremacy" - the idea that the courts ultimately determine what the law is.
On CBS's Face the Nation, Gingrich told Bob Schieffer that as president, he would ignore court rulings he disagreed with (though only rarely, he added). Asked if President Obama could ignore a Supreme Court rejection of Obamacare, Gingrich said he could, but would risk a rebuke by Congress. "Here's the key: It's always two out of three," Gingrich said. "If the president and the Congress say the court is wrong, in the end, the court would lose."
Really? One would be hard-pressed to find that in the Constitution. In fact, when the court finds a law unconstitutional, it's almost always been approved by two branches out of three (the exception being the rare cases when Congress overrides a presidential veto): Congress passes bills, and the president signs them. According to Gingrich, then, the two political branches could ignore the court almost every time it rules against a law.
The founders' cardinal achievement was the establishment of a popular government under the rule of law, as spelled out in a written Constitution and enforced by an independent judiciary. Our courts haven't always done their job well, but they have been a beacon for other nations struggling to establish independent judiciaries.
